Crossword clues for palooka
palooka
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"mediocre prizefighter," 1926, of unknown origin, credited to U.S. sportswriter and "Variety" staffer Jack Conway (d.1928). Non-boxing sense of "average person" is from Joe Palooka, hero of Ham Fisher's comic strip.
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context US slang English) A stupid, oafish or clumsy person. 2 (context US boxing bridge and similar ventures English) Someone incompetent or untalented in the specified area.
WordNet
n. a second-rate prize fighter [syn: stumblebum]
Wikipedia
Palooka may refer to:
-
Joe Palooka, an American comic strip from which some subsequent usages are derived
- Palooka (film), a 1934 film based on the comic strip
- The Palooka, a one-act play by Tennessee Williams
- Palookas, a 1980s rock group fronted by Jowe Head
- Palooka, an unskilful player in bridge and other card games; see Glossary of contract bridge terms#palooka
Palooka is a 1934 American Pre-Code comedy film directed by Benjamin Stoloff starring Jimmy Durante and based on the comic strip by Ham Fisher. The movie was adapted by Jack Jevne, Arthur Kober, Gertrude Purcell, Murray Roth and Ben Ryan from the comic strip.
The film is also known as The Great Schnozzle in the United Kingdom.
Usage examples of "palooka".
Now, at fifty-five, he might be mistaken for a prizefighter who stayed in the sport too long: cauliflower ears, portobello nose, the humility of a basically sweet palooka who has learned the hard way that brute strength does not a champion make.
For the first time in his life, he owned a luxurious home, decorated just the way that he and Gay had wanted, and he could turn around to all those capitalist palookas who had tried to crush him, and grind him and his union out of existence, and he could raise two rigid fingers.
If consensus had been reached I hadn't heard, and half of these palookas had forgotten it by now.
Poor Jimnmy Carter issues orders from the White House-some `Joint Chiefs of Staff' palookas issue orders from the Pentagon-thousands of miles away in a godfor-.